"Beowulf" and Other Old English Poems

APPENDIX A: "Digressions”: Battles, Feuds, and Family Strife in Beowulf

APPENDIX A “Digressions”: Battles, Feuds, and Family Strife in Beowulf This section contains brief summaries of the major feuds and battles in Beowulf and also of the major historical references which have sometimes been called “digressions.” Some of these accounts are told in detailed fashion in the poem; others are only touched upon. The full story behind the historical references must sometimes be filled in from other sources. Often the details remain somewhat murky or they seem to be imaginatively reconceived in the poem. It seems likely that the Anglo-Saxon audience or readership knew something of these stories, so that even brief mentions or curtailed summaries reverberated for them in complex ways that are difficult for modern readers to experience. DANISH FEUDS AND DIFFICULTIES At the beginning of the poem, the Danish royal dynasty is traced back to the legendary Scyld Sceafing. The line comes down through Beow to Healfdene, Hrothgar’s father. When Healfdene died, either Heorogar ruled for a very short time before dying, or perhaps the reign passed directly to Hrothgar for some reason. After Hrothgar became king, he solidified Danish power and built the great hall Heorot. Hrothgar’s sister, possibly Yrse (we’re not certain of the name), married Onela the Swede (see below), probably in a failed gesture of peace-weaving between the two warring peoples. Hrothgar married Wealhtheow; they had two sons, Hrethric and Hrothmund, and a daughter Freawaru. In the poem, Hrothgar intends to marry Freawaru off to Ingeld of the Heathobards in an attempt to weave a peace between their feuding peoples, but, as Beowulf predicts, this plan 216 | AP PEN DIX A is almost certainly doomed to failure. Early on in the poem, we hear that Hrothgar ’s great hall is destined to fall in flames to this feud between father and son-inlaw . Hrothgar’s nephew, Hrothulf, is living in the court because he has lost his parents at an early age. He is being raised by Hrothgar and Wealhtheow, who treat him like one of their sons. Hrothulf seems to some critics to be plotting to seize the throne at some point, though there is great disagreement about this. The historical sources do tell us that he eventually came to power. Whether he exiled and/or killed Hrethric and Hrothmund remains unclear. Unferth may be part of this plot, especially since Beowulf says he’s well known for his earlier murder of his brother, but this also is much debated. Wealhtheow at one point urges Beowulf to be the protector of her sons; she is probably wise to fear for their safety should Hrothgar die. Sources indicate that after Hrothgar died and Hrothulf took the throne, eventually Heoroweard, the son of Heorogar (Hrothgar’s deceased older brother), may have killed Hrothulf and become king. At some point in Hrothgar’s reign, he took in Beowulf’s father, who was fleeing from a feud. He protected him and later settled the feud for him. Beowulf ’s coming to Denmark to fight with Grendel is in part an act of repaying the family debt to Hrothgar for having saved his father’s life. THE STORY OF FINNSBURG In the celebration in Heorot after Beowulf’s battle with Grendel, the court scop or poet/singer chants the legendary story of the battle between the Half-Danes and the Finns at Finnsburg. There is also a fragmentary account of this battle in an Old English poem, “The Fight at Finnsburg.” Hildeburh, daughter of King Hoc of the Half-Danes (a subgroup of the Danes), is married off to Finn, king of the Frisians, in another of those unlikely-to-succeed gestures of peace-weaving. She goes off to live with her husband’s people, as is the common Germanic practice . Her brother Hnæf comes to visit with his chief thane Hengest and a retinue of retainers. The old feud between the Half-Danes and Frisians simmers, and one night a group of Frisians attacks the Half-Danes as the old feud breaks out between the two traditional enemies. Many warriors die on both sides. Hildeburh’s brother Hnæf and her unnamed son are both killed. Finally the battle ends in a stalemate. Hengest, now leader of the Half-Danes, exchanges vows with Finn, and they both promise to live peacefully through the winter, although the HalfDanes remain in a untenable position with Finn as their overlord. A separate hallspace is established for the Danes (or perhaps a hall is...